3 OctOber 30 - NOvember 5, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ KEY LARGO CROC ABUSE WHAT KIND OF DUMBASS SPEAR- GUNS A CROCODILE? BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON F lorida Fish and Wildlife Conser- vation Commission (FWC) offi- cials are offering a reward for information about an American crocodile found with a spear gun bolt lodged in its head. A bystander in Key Largo called FWC on Saturday, October 18, after spotting an 8-foot- long female American crocodile swimming with a sharp projectile protruding from her head near mile marker 101, according to FWC spokeswoman Arielle Callender. FWC and Zoo Miami personnel finally captured the crocodile late Monday after spending several days searching for her, ac- cording to a report from Local 10. “These guys are heroes,” Kelly Randin, the Key Largo resident who reported the injury, tells New Times. Randin tells New Times she called FWC after a neighbor spotted the wounded croc, which is now in surgery. She posted photos of the abuse on social media, to the shock and horror of many. “Poor thing. So cruel to leave her out there alive and suffering,” one commenter wrote. “WTF is wrong with people? They better catch this asshole. I’m furious,” chimed in another. FWC continues to seek information about the incident. “Anyone with photos, videos, or information is asked to contact the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. Reports can be made anonymously, and tips that lead to an ar- rest or citation may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000,” according to the press release. It’s illegal under Florida law to injure, kill, capture, or possess alligators or other croco- dilians. Additionally, the American crocodile is listed as a federally threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, so it’s also against federal law to injure or kill them. Injuring an American crocodile in the U.S. is punishable by fines of up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to a year. Florida’s law has more teeth; injuring an American crocodile is a third-degree felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. Experts say such head wounds are likely to cause a slow, agonizing death. ABC News Australia reported that animal advocates in Queensland faced a similar issue in March when they were unable to capture a speared crocodile for treatment. “The crocodile would be in extreme pain and, if not captured and assess, will most likely die a slow and agonizing death,” an en- vironmental expert told the outlet. “Behind the head — there’s a lot of important organs there, so there’ll be a lot of discomfort there.” | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS In Florida, it is a third- degree felony to injure or kill an alligator or crocodile. Photo by Kelly Randin ▼ DOWNTOWN BACK IN PLAY? WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO CATCH A HEAT GAME AT THE BANGBROS CENTER? BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN G iven recent news of layoffs at Kaseya, New Times knows what all Miamians are thinking: Will we finally be able to watch the Miami Heat play at the BangBros Cen- ter (AKA the BBC)? Kaseya, the IT management company that bought the naming rights to the downtown Mi- ami arena in April 2023, eliminated 200 jobs last week, including 50 at its Miami headquarters. Chief communications officer Xavier Gonzalez emphasized that the layoffs were “part of a fo- cused investment strategy to align resources with the areas that will deliver the greatest impact.” After a hiring spree in 2023, the company fired 150 employees in April 2024. At that time, Gonza- lez maintained that the cuts were “performance- based terminations,” as opposed to layoffs. “Kaseya has made organizational changes de- signed to position the company for long-term growth and continued leadership in delivering se- cure, intelligent, and automated IT solutions for its partners and customers worldwide,” Gonzalez says in a statement sent to New Times. “Kaseya remains committed to its naming rights agree- ment for the Kaseya Center and continues to meet its financial obligations as part of the agree- ment with Miami-Dade County. Kaseya remains strong financially. These changes are proactive steps to focus our investments on the strategic areas that will drive growth, strengthen our mar- ket leadership, and ensure we deliver sustainable value to our customers and partners.” Founded in 2000, Kaseya moved its headquarters to Brick- ell in 2018. Five years later, the company re- ceived $4.6 million in government subsidies from Miami-Dade County for a local hir- ing spree and, a mere two months later, won the naming rights to the county-owned arena after the venue’s then- sponsor, cryptocurrency exchange FTX, went bankrupt amid the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal. Whereas the ill-fated FTX pact signed in 2021 called for 19 years and $135 million, Kaseya and the county inked a 17-year, $117 million deal. (Both arrangements called for the Heat to re- ceive a portion of the sponsorship dough.) And for the second time in less than five years, BangBros, which had resubmitted its 2019 offer of ten years and $10 million, found itself on the outside looking in. “If they accept our offer, they would be sup- porting a local business made up of loyal season ticket holders for the last 20 years,” a BangBros representative told New Times before the home- grown porn empire was snubbed. “They can show their loyalty back by selling us the naming rights.” (In a rival risqué proposal, Booby Trap, which owns a handful of strip clubs in South Florida, submitted a $5 million bid to name the home of the Heat “Booby Trap Arena.”) BangBros has not responded to New Times’ emailed request for comment for this story. For two decades, Miamians knew the venue as American Airlines Arena. But in 2019, the air- line announced that when its arrangement with the county expired on January 1, 2020, it would not renew the deal. (The airline’s name wasn’t re- moved from the building until 2021.) Meanwhile, Kaseya’s website lists 69 job openings worldwide. In June, technology execu- tive Rania Succar replaced Fred Voccola as the company’s chief executive officer. “The com- pany continues to hire in customer-facing, prod- uct, and engineering roles as it accelerates investment in international expansion and inno- vation, particularly in AI-driven capabilities,” Gonzalez explains in his statement. [email protected] ▼ $OUTH FLORIDA ON THE NOSE HOUSE-POOR U.S. CITIES RANKINGS HIT CLOSE TO HOME. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON M iami is exceedingly rich in dozens of ways, from its breadth of cul- tures, wildlife, and things to do to its concentration of actual rich people. But a recently released ranking highlighted a more sobering reality. Miami-Dade County residents are among the most house-poor in the nation. In the neighborhoods wedged in be- tween the glitzy high-rises, beaches, strip clubs, and luxury malls that make South Florida a world-class destination for mon- eybags are scores of middle-class people living paycheck to paycheck thanks to the stratospheric cost of living. An analysis from mortgage broker Con- sumer Affairs has endeavored to pinpoint the most “house-poor” cities in the nation by determining the percentage of income homeowners devote to housing — ex- penses like mortgage, insurance, property taxes, HOA fees, and utilities. The study was restricted to communities with populations of 175,000 or more and to residents who owned their own homes; it did not include renters (who also face steep costs compared to the rest of the U.S.). When the numbers were crunched, three South Florida municipalities ranked among the top six. According to conventional wisdom (which is to say most dads you ask), a household shouldn’t spend more than 30 percent of its before-tax income on hous- ing costs. Lenders, however, typically ad- vise people not to spend more than 28 percent, and that’s the metric Consumer Affairs employed to pinpoint the most house-poor cities in the U.S. Hialeah emerged as No. 1 in the nation for that dubious distinction. Consumer Af- fairs calculated that the median Hialeah household spends a whopping 36.9 percent of its income on housing. That’s based on a median household income of $71,386 and median monthly housing costs of $2,193. That beat out second-banana New York City (annual income $121,443, monthly housing costs $3,335), which clocked in at 33 percent. Then come New Orleans and Los Ange- les, followed by the City of Miami at No. 5 (annual income $107,481, monthly housing costs $2,893, which comes out to 32.3 per- cent) and the Broward County suburb of Pembroke Pines at No. 6 (annual income $103,178, monthly housing costs $2,751, or 32 percent). With a population of 179,326, Pem- broke Pines was the smallest municipality in the Top 10, which was rounded out by St. Petersburg, Honolulu, Yonkers, and Ch- ula Vista. “IF THEY ACCEPT OUR OFFER, THEY WOULD BE SUPPORTING A LOCAL BUSINESS.”
